England confirm appointment of Stephen Fleming as Test coach - with former captain Joe Root returning to the role

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 05:47 EDT, 30 July 2026 | Updated: 06:04 EDT, 30 July 2026 England have confirmed the appointment of Stephen Fleming as Test coach with Joe Root named as new captain.Fleming, 53, takes over from fellow New Zealander Brendon McCullum, who remains in charge of the white-ball teams, after terminating an 18-year association with Chennai Super Kings.Thirty-five-year-old Root deputised for the suspended Ben Stokes at The Oval against New Zealand recently and will now extend his record of captaining England more times than anyone else when he leads the team into the three-match series against Pakistan, starting on August 19.Marcus Trescothick will serve as interim head coach for that series as Fleming has been granted time with his family in New Zealand before beginning the role with the ECB later this summer.‘I’m incredibly excited to be joining England as Test coach. It’s one of the most prestigious coaching positions in world cricket and I am honoured to be appointed,’ Fleming said.‘I am looking forward to working with the players and bedding in the gains made by Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes. Of course, the ambition is always to win now. But equally, it’s about ensuring the team is well placed for the medium and long-term future. There is a lot of young talent in and around the team and our aim is to help them fulfil their potential as world-class cricketers. Stephen Fleming has never coached red-ball cricket before but has been named the new England Test coach Joe Root will return as Test captain despite former coach Brendon McCullum endorsing Harry Brook for the role'I’m particularly looking forward to working with Joe Root as captain - a generational talent who has achieved so much already. There is still plenty more to come from him, and I’m excited to support him so he can enjoy and thrive in the role in what is a different context to his first stint.‘I’m also excited to work with Harry Brook. The best players are never finished products, and helping Harry continue to develop his extraordinary talent and his leadership will be an important part of this journey.’Root, who will look to add to his England record 27 Test wins as captain on his home ground of Headingley in three weeks’ time, said: ‘It is a great honour and privilege to be asked to be England Test captain again.‘The Test captaincy is a difficult but hugely rewarding job and, after enjoying a brief taste of it again working with Baz McCullum last month, I am excited to lead this next generation of players forward.‘The opportunity to do that alongside Stephen is also a huge motivator. He has proved over a long period of time that he is an exceptional leader with a great knowledge of the game, and I am looking forward to working with him and helping to build a winning environment.’Daily Mail Sport revealed that Root had been lined up to return to the captaincy permanently at the end of the Trent Bridge defeat to New Zealand that brought down the curtain on Stokes’ career and condemned England to a winless sequence in Test series spanning back to 2024.It was a set of results that cost McCullum his job as all-format coach, but Rob Key, England’s director of cricket, said Root deserved the ‘opportunity to lead free from the Covid restrictions that the Test team faced at the end of his first stint as captain.’Root’s first spell ended in just one win in 17 matches, but that included a 4-0 Ashes loss down under played under the strictest of restrictions.